As a lesbian, I'm ashamed that transphobia exists within my own community

On one of the best days of the year away, my fiancee and I were preparing to attend the annual Pride March in London

We were going to take part in the parade for the first time, so we were head-to-head rainbow, dancing around to a playlist of epic pride that I'd made and generally feeling the love and positivity emanating from the rest of the walkers and the crowd that had gathered.

I've never seen so many happy faces, so much glitter and so much glitter love in one place – it was just electric. We did not know, the parade was about to be hijacked by a group of anti-trans protesters who were making their way to the front of the march and distributing transphobic leaflets, transphobic signs and walking on all the length of the parade. event organizers

I am a cisgender bad, and Pride has been an integral part of my journey in the LGBTQIA + community. It has always been a safe place to retire. I felt absolutely hype to be in the parade, sitting on top of an open top double decker bus at the front of the waiting area. I applied my 17th coat of rainbow paint when a media group boarded our bus and asked to take pictures from the top of the "protest that was taking place at the front."

My mood suddenly changed. event? I made my way up to the front of the bus and saw a group of about eight to ten protesters standing on the giant rainbow flag, holding transphobic banners and shouting at the crowd

We watched the organizers attempt to remove them obediently. I felt an overwhelming sense of shame when we learned that the group were Trans Exclusion Radical Femin (TERF) bads who were protesting trans rights and the gender recognition law "erasing bads." How could members of our own community turn to our trans family in the name of erasing bads?

Beside our bus, waiting to leave, was a group of trans activists who were to attend this first hand. I ran to the side of the bus and I shouted that we loved them and we cheered them from the top of my lungs because they were finally allowed to leave. What I did not realize was that the TERF group that hijacked Pride was allowed to continue walking, leading the parade in front of the rainbow flag.

After the parade, when I returned home, the magnitude of the protest appeared and I was completely devastated. These women had taken a safe haven for everyone in the community and had introduced hatred, and what impressed them the most was that they were allowed to continue their protest, despite challenges of the millionaire crowd. The LGBTQIA + community quickly fought back,

The #LWithTheT and #NotADebate hashtags were created and hundreds of videos shared by cisgender bads proclaimed their support for the trans community. My fiancée and I created our own video, which to date has had more than 17,000 views on Twitter and hundreds of messages of support.

Transphobia is still prevalent in the UK and the protest points out that part of this transphobia LGBTQIA + community. In the UK alone, 48% of trans people still do not feel safe using public toilets and more than two in five trans people avoid certain streets because they do not feel safe. The actions taken by protesters in a historically safe space like Pride force our trans family to take refuge in a world where they already feel in danger.

Popular activism like #LWithTheT and #NotADebate brings discussion into social spaces, however more needs to be done to protect transgender people. In addition to our video, my fiancée and I donated to charities with trans rights.

The actual action, however, must come from Pride in London. Although Pride in London has finally released an official apology, it's just not enough. Pride in London should put his money where his excuses are and use some of his corporate sponsorship money to donate to small charities, which are lifelines providing direct support to the trans community. . The harm done to the community can not be underestimated, and Pride in London has a duty of care to the communities that she supposedly represents.

PLUS: What is cisgender, where does the word come from and is it offensive?

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